Frame construction for soft-sided luggage



Nov. 30,- 1948. G. G. BARTON 2,454,985

F.RAME CONSTRUCTION FOR SOFT-SIDED LUGGAGE I I Filed April 16, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

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Nov. 30, 1948. G. G. BARTON 2,454,985

FRAME CONSTRUCTION FOR SOFT-SIDED LUGGAGE Filed April 16, 1 947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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DYWZQWMLZZ Patented Nov. 30, n 1948 UNITED STATES 2,454,985

FRAME CONSTRUCTION FOB SOFT-SIDED LUGGAGE George 'G. Barton, Racine, Wis, a's'signor to fH-art-- ma'nn Company, Racine, Wisya corporation of Wisconsin Application April 16, 1947, Serial No. 741,825

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in luggage case frame construction, and more particularly to the frame construction of sections of hand luggage cases of the soft-sided or flexible walled type.

Certain types of hand luggage cases, characterized by soft-sided or flexible walls, are in extensive service. In a hand luggage case of the type under consideration each case section is formed so'that certain major wall portions thereof include only an exterior flexible covering material such as leather, canvas, or the like, and an inner lining fabric. To support the covering material for each case section and to provide interfitting valance portions for the respective sections of a case, each case section must comprise a skele'tondike frame, and in a soft-sided type of case it is essential that the case section frames include-a minimum number of parts and be devoid of bulk and weight. The frame must reinforce and give rigidity to certain of the walls of the case section, but a frame which materially adds to the weight of the luggage case 'section is highly objectionable, and additionally, the frame must be such that the outer side wall portions of the case are devoid of reinforcement and stiffening material as the latter will negative the soft sided or flexible nature of the case, it being appreciated that a soft-sided case has certain appeals and advantages.

With the foregoing in mind it is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a luggage case frame construction particularly adapted for soft-sided or flexible wall luggage cases, which does not negative or detractfromthe soft=slded nature of the luggage case sections, nor add to the weight of the luggage, but which nevertheless effectively reinforces the luggage case sectionsin a manner so as to prevent undesirable distortion and flexing of the same when in service.

A further object of the invention is to provide a luggage case frame construction particularly adapted for soft-sided luggage cases wherein each case section frame is of outline form with the component :parts thereofbeing mutually interlocked to enhance the rigidity, strength and stability of the case section while permitting limited yieldability thereof.

A further object of the inventionis to provide a luggage case frame construction formed of interconnected light weight veneer and fiber elements having recessed and rounded corner portions to .permit a smooth and flush application of covering material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a luggage case frame construction which results in a light, shape-retaining and durable case of unique and attractive appearance, which is strong and not subject to distortion or damage inordinary usage, and which is well adapted for the purposes described.

With'the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved luggage case frame construction, and its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in-all of the views:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a soft-sided hand luggage case in open condition, interior fittings and lining material being omitted andportions of the covering material of the case sections being broken-away to show structural details of the improved frame construction;

*Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary detail tional view takenon line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail tional view taken on'line 3--3 of Fig. 1.;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail tional view'takenv on line 4-4 'of Fig. 1;

Fig, 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail tional view taken on line 5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of acase section rail construction at a corner, said view being indicated by the line 6--i5 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary detail sectional view taken on line l---l of Fig. 1;

'Fig. '8 is an'enlarged fragmentary detail sectional view of the meeting ends of a pair of rail members disconnected to show the tongue and grooveconnectionof the same;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of an exterlorcorn'er portion of one section of {the hand luggage case with the hinge strip broken away and in section;

101's a'f'ragmentary detail sectional view taken ofi'liii'e Hi -Ill of Fig. 9; "and 'Flgll is an inverted fragmentary plan view of a corner portion of a case section taken on line'l'l-Jl of Fig. '1.

Referring now mor particularly to the drawings, it will appear that the improved hand luggage case comprises a pair 'of complementary sections 12 and [3 whose open faces are adapted to be brought into meeting relationship when the case is closed. The luggage case is of the type having "Sdft Oi non-rigid Side Wall's. All outer sec- SEG-

eton frame, generally of rectangularformation,

is required, and the frames of the case sections are of the essence of the present invention. Those walls of the case sections which form the bottoms To give form to each case section g when the case is in its closed carrying position,

are reinforced, as are the end walls and top walls, the latter carrying necessary handles l and latch hardware 16. The meeting edge portions of said reinforced bottom walls of the complementary sections 12 and I3 are hingedly connected together by hinge strips 29.

The construction of one of the complementary sections of the hand luggage case will now be described in detail. Thisis the case section I2 which is the deeper of the two sections, and it will be observed that it is of U- formation in longitudinal and transverse section and includes the soft or flexible side wall previously mentioned and the reinforced top and bottom, and end walls (referring to the position of the case in its closed, transportable condition).

The outline of the case sectionv is defined by a rectangular frame formed of connected together wooden rails includingouter and inner longitudinal rails H and endtransverse rails [8. The meeting ends of the frame rails l1 and I8 are secured together by tongue and groove joints l9 and 25, as best shown in Fig.8. The securement at the joints may befa'cilitated by the use of glue or other adhesive. With particulaif' reference to the forward longitudinal rail ll, attention is directed to the construction shown in Fig. 3, wherein it will be observed that the underside of said rail is provided with a longitudinal slot 2| in which is secured the inner edge of a fiat wooden or veneer frame strip 22, but the latter terminates short of the ends of the rail l! *as will be noted from Figs. 1 and 11 and for a purpose hereinafter to be dealt with. Nailed or otherwise secured to the outer face of the forward rail IT, as well as the end transverse rails 18, is a U- haped valance strip or collar 23, preferably formed of fiber and said valance strip or collar projects beyond the outer surface of the rail frame to receive the rail frame of the section l3 of theluggage'case when the case is in closed condition.

The end rails l8 are similarly formed with longitudinal grooves 24 (see Fig. 2) which receive the inner margins of end wall reinforcements formed of fiber or the like. It will be observed from Figs. 1, 2, 3 and4'that each end wall reinforcement 25 is not only co-extensive with its rail l8, but it is formed with integral angularlyin the same manner as was mentioned in connection with front strip 22. The rear or inner corners of the frame for the case section 12 are reinforced by curved metal plates 28 applied in the manner shown in Fig. 6. Said members 28 serve to reinforce the rail joints at the corners as well as engaging the adjacent portions of the strips 23 and 26.

One continuous sheet of covering material 14 is applied to the described frame of the case section E2 to cover the broad side wall thereof and to also cover thetop and bottom walls. As will be noted from Fig. 1, the side wall of said case section is formed only of said covering material (with lining being applied thereto in actual practice) and the covering material is stretched and secured very tautly with the frame causing the same to bow outwardly slightly which effect, and a rounding adjacent the edges of the top and bottom portions is facilitated by bevelled edges 22' and 25 on the frame strips 22 and 26, respectively, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. As will be observed from'Fig. 10, the covering material ill may actually comprise several plies of secured together material. Relative to the top wall of the frame, the multi-ply covering material starts at 4."; nested rails l1 d 18, as well as the valanceor 3 29, previously referred to.

and abuts against the shoulder formed by the valance strip 23 and it is stitched to the wooden frame element 22!, as indicated by the line of stitching and designated 39 in Fig. 1. Relative to the bottom wall of the case section the covering material M is stitched to the wooden frame element 26 along the line 31 (see Figs. 9 and 10) and a suitable reduced thickness of the covering material is continued to provide the hinge strip Adjacent the end walls of the case section the covering material is folded inwardly and forms the external edge bead i l, best shown in Figs. 1, 9 and 10.

The rectangular frame formed by the conmaterial.

The end walls of the frame have separate sheets of covering material applied thereto in the manner best shown in Fig. 10. Marginal portions thereof are folded in upon portions of the side covering. This bunching or extra thickness of material is accommodated by recesses formed at the ends of the top and bottom walls, which recesses result from the end faces of the top and bottom panels, the adjacent unlapped outer surfaces of the angular end wall extensions 25, and the adjacent overhanging rail portions l1 and 18, as will appear from Fig. 11.

Opposite end portions of the bottom wall of the case section under consideration have secured thereto by means of rivets which pass through and secure all thicknesses of material, metallic cleats 32. Also, the inner or lower corner portions of said case section are reinforced and braced by metallic corner plates 33 applied as best shown in Figs. 1, 9 and 10. Said metallic members 33 are secured by rivets to the valance strip 23 and the cover thereabout, and are also secured by pins to the rail IT.

The construction of the other of the'complementary sections of the hand luggage case will now be described in detail, although in some respects, the frame of the case section I3 is built up in a manner very similar to that of the case section l2. The case section l3, it will be ob- 5 served, is also of U-formation in longitudinal and transverse section, and its side wall is soft or flexible, while the end walls and the top and bottom wall (referring to the position of the case in its closed transportable condition) are reinforced.

The outline of the case section I 3 is defined by a rectangular frame formed of connected together wooden rails including outer and inner longitudinal rails 34 and end transverse rails 35. The meeting ends of the frame rails 34 and 35 are secured together by glued tongue and groove joints, as described in connection with the case section 12 and as is shown in Fig. 8. The top or outer wall of the case section 13 is reinforced by a relatively wide wooden or veneer frame panel 36 having its inner edge rabbeted into the outer face of the rail 34 to provide a flush joint. The outer longitudinal edge of the panel 36 is bevelled as at 36', to facilitate the application of the covering material M. The panel 35 terminates short of each end of the rail 34. The reinforcement of the lower or inner wall of the case section I3 is identical to that just described in connection with the upper or outer Wall.

The end walls of the case section I3 are reinforced by fiber strips 31 which are reduced in width intermediate their ends to lighten the construction and to give more flexibility to the applied covering material. As was the construction in connection with the end walls of the case section I2, the fiber reinforcements 31 have inturned end flanges 3'! which interiorly lap the end portions of the wooden panels 36 and are secured thereto, but being thinner than the wooden panels, form inwardly offset shoulders for the smooth application of the covering material to the ends and corners, as was described in connection with the case section l2. The corners are reinforced by curved metal brackets 28. Sheets of covering material are applied to the frame of the case section 13 in the same manner as described in connection with the case section 12.

Each section of the hand luggage case includes an open rectangular frame formed of wood and fiber elements which are thin and light and of a nature and form so as to preclude bulkiness in the finished piece of hand luggage. The longitudinal frame elements are securely attached at their ends to the transverse frame elements with the corner joints being reinforced and including overlapping extents. The various side and end panels are securely mounted in the rails so that each case section is extremely strong and 5" rigid and will not be subject to distortion in 6 use, but maintains a desirable degree of flexibility and permits the application of flexible sheet covering material in a manner to preserve the soft-sided appearance and character of the hand luggage.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the improved frame construction for soft sided luggage is simple, durable and light and is well adapted for the purposes described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

In a box-type hand luggage case, an openfaced section of U-form in section having rigid top, bottom and end walls including reinforcing panels therein and a flexible side wall having its edge portions secured to and covering the top and bottom walls, the top and bottom walls including rails into which marginal portions of the panels are rabbeted, said panels being of less length than the rails to provide overhanging rail portions, the end Walls including rails formed with grooves into which marginal portions of the end wall panels are secured, the end wall panels having angular end extensions interiorly lapping, and secured to, end portions of the top and bottorn wall panels, there being recesses at each end of said top and bottom walls, said recesses being formed by end faces of said top and bottom wall panels, by the adjacent unlapped outer surfaces of said angular end wall extensions, and by the adjacent overhanging rail portions, a sheet of flexible covering material applied to the outer face of each end wall panel, edge portions of the latter sheets being folded under and secured in superimposed relation to edge portions of the flexible wall and such superimposed edge portions being flushly accommodated within said recesses of the top and bottom walls.

GEORGE G. BARTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 345,145 Teese Feb. 26, 1917 1,023,238 Becker Apr. 16, 1912 1,712,448 Eckhardt May 7, 1929 2,309,029 Wheary Jan. 19, 1943 2,328,100 Ritter Aug. 31, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 181,907 Great Britain June 29, 1922 272,398 Great Britain June 16, 1927 

